Shelving for residential and commercial applications is commonly used to display or store a wide variety of articles to reduce clutter or improve the physical or visible access to the articles. Some articles are relatively compact or light in weight, such as pictures, antiques, family heirlooms, knickknacks and the like. Other articles are relatively bulky or heavy in weight, such as detergent containers, boxes of soda, television sets and the like. Factors in shelving design are that the articles placed on the shelving frequently change over time and the location of the shelving is frequently in areas and at a height that brings the shelving into constant view. As a result, shelving designs typically seeks to optimize the weight carrying capacity of the shelving while providing an attractive appearance.
When shelving is provided in well traveled areas, the aesthetic value of hiding its mounting hardware is often desired. Shelving that masks or hides its mounting hardware is well known. Examples of hidden shelving hardware are the bars, rods, pins, anchors, screws and nuts that secure the shelving to the wall or its wall studs as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,333,555, 3,527,175 and 3,752,088 to Kapnek, the brackets and rods or cantilevered members of U.S. Pat. No. 6,164,610 to Santiago, or the hanger type hardware that engages the inner surface of the wall as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,441,433; 5,788,200 and 5,954,306 to Hoover, Jones and Caldwell, respectively, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference.
One problem with conventional hidden shelving mounting hardware designs is that the predrilled rod receiving holes in the thinner shelving boards are spaced apart fixed distance, presumably to retain the weight supporting integrity of the thinner boards. Yet, the distance between adjacent vertical wall studs in a wall are not always the same. While studs are often spaced 16 inches apart, this spacing can vary and is frequently more or less than this amount. As a result, the predrilled rod receiving holes often do not align with the wall studs. Similarly, the desired location of the shelving frequently does not aligned with the wall studs. The shelving location cannot be shifted to the right or left of the wall studs to a more desirable location on the wall without one or more of the predrilled rod receiving holes missing a wall studs, which can reduce the weight carrying capacity of the shelving. While the use of wall anchors can be used when a wall stud is not present, this type of securement is generally considered less desirable for weight baring reasons than securing directly to a stud.
Another problem with conventional hidden shelving mounting hardware is that it is designed for thinner shelving boards. There is a tradeoff between the diameter of the rods and the amount of material removed from the board. The larger the diameter of the rods, the more board material that is removed and the more its weight carrying capacity is reduced. Similarly, the smaller the diameter of the rod, the more their weight caring capacity is reduced. In addition, the predrilled holes in the boards are centrally located between the top and bottom surfaces of the board so that sufficiently thick amounts of board material remain both above and below the hole to minimize its loss of load bearing capacity.
A further problem with conventional hidden shelving mounting hardware designs is that they are intended for shelving boards made of a uniform and consistent composite material. The thinner boards are free of cracks, splits or other defects that could reduce the load caring capacity of the shelving or cause it to fail, particularly if the defect were near one of the holes for inserting a support rod. The designs are not intended or well suited for use with reclaimed wood that is frequently cracked or split, or includes knots, embedded nails or other discontinuities or imperfections.
The French cleat is a conventional type of cabinet mount that is sometimes adapted for shelving applications. The mount is formed by opposed cleats with angled mating ends. One set of cleats is anchored to the wall and a second set is secured to the back of a cabinet or item being mounted as in U.S. Pat. No. 7,954,653 to Adams. The ends of the wall cleats angle down and toward the wall to draw the cabinet and its cleats into abutting engagement with the wall. An adaptation of a French cleat for a shelving application is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,381,636 to Saiberlich, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference. The shelf mount has a horizontal bar with a uniform groove along its length. The bar is secured to a wall with the groove facing up. One end of the thin shelf board has a uniform downwardly facing hook along its length. The groove and hook mate to hold the cantilevered board. The shelf board and mounting bar are both made of wood or other suitable material, and the lower surface of the mounting bar is curved to flushly engage the lower surface of the shelf board so the bar appears to be part of the shelf.
The French cleat suffers from a variety of problems for mounting a solid wood mantel, particularly one made of reclaimed wood. By their nature and for aesthetic reasons, reclaimed wood mantels have cracks, splits, knots and other discontinuities. Some surfaces are purposely left in their natural roughened condition. Any discontinuities in the vicinity of the routed groove can prevent proper alignment of the cleats, or weaken the mounting joint or cause it to fail. Additionally, while cabinets have a recessed back panel that can easily receive a cleat, a solid mantel of reclaimed wood must be intricately machined to cut an angled or squared off groove into its back surface. Forming the cleat groove requires additional manufacturing costs, such as the cost of an industrial router to cut through the hardened reclaimed wood, and frequent replacement of expensive routing tool blades due to the nails and other objects in the wood. Furthermore, consumers frequently have no special carpentry skills or training to install the mantel, and thus frequently secure the wall cleats slightly misaligned so they do not properly align with the routed groove in the back of the mantel. This causes unsightly gaps between the mantel and the wall, or shifting or jiggling of the mantel when it is bumped or items are placed on it.
The present invention is intended to solve these and other problems.